


Learning to Dance in the Rain

by ILikeBrains



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, it began based on a theory and then my brain rode off on the fluff train, with a bit of implied angst i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7393090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILikeBrains/pseuds/ILikeBrains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s nothing.<br/>	You don’t know how much time passes, or if time even means anything anymore.  Are you dead?  Did you succeed?  You swear you remember Lord English being defeated, but everything quite literally goes blank after that.  Maybe everything was destroyed.  The thought of dying a hero doesn’t appeal to you as much as you thought it would.  You remember Terezi saying that she’ll miss you, and you feel a pang of regret.  You told her you would come back, even though you knew there was a strong possibility that you wouldn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Learning to Dance in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by an idea my friend had about Terezi: Remem8er, and it sort of spiraled from there

There’s nothing.

You don’t know how much time passes, or if time even means anything anymore. Are you dead? Did you succeed? You swear you remember Lord English being defeated, but everything quite literally goes blank after that. Maybe _everything_ was destroyed. The thought of dying a hero doesn’t appeal to you as much as you thought it would. You remember Terezi saying that she’ll miss you, and you feel a pang of regret. You told her you would come back, even though you knew there was a strong possibility that you wouldn’t.

The cracks are gone. Everything is gone. Maybe you’re still right where you were, and this is the furthest ring without the dream bubbles. But if the dream bubbles are gone, does that mean that the ghosts are as well? They’re just copies of your friends, you shouldn’t care. (You do)

Eventually, you see figures approaching (You’ll never tell them how relieved you are). When they get close enough, you recognize them. There’s Sollux, Aradia, and… what the hell even _happened_ once you left those idiots?! That is _not_ an effective use of sprites! Is… is that a mix of Dave and Nepeta? And a _bird_? Good LORD, you leave them alone for… however long.

“Hello, Vriska!” Man, you think you preferred her when she was all dead and emotionless. How can someone possibly be so _happy_ all the time? You’re just about to open your mouth to make an appropriately scathing reply, when Aradia continues on.

“Sorry it took so long to get here, we had to check in on all the ghosts and make sure that they’re doing ok before heading out. Ready?”  
Before you can ask “ready for what”, you feel a pinching sensation, and everything disappears.  
*****  
Everything is bright. You have to close your eyes as soon as you open them, and sit up as your eyes adjust. You can feel wind blowing gently, and feel dirt under you. 

“Home sweet home!” Aradia chirps, and you hear Sollux grumbling something about _a little warning next time_. Your sprite companion seems to be creating little raps about your surroundings, generously interspersed with cat puns. Slowly, you see a blue sky, and tall green trees. This is somewhere you’ve only seen on a screen.

You try to conceal the surprise in your voice as you say, “We’re on Earth!”

“No shit, Sherlock.” You think Sollux would be shooting you a withering glare if he had eyes. You roll yours and hope he can somehow sense the finger you give him.

Behind you, Aradia is flitting around, serene as ever. It hits you that you have no idea _where_ on the planet you are.

“Soooooooo… did this brilliant plan of yours _happen_ to include how we’re going to find everyone?”

“No” Aradia replies, sounding entirely unperturbed about this. Your response of “greeeeeeeeaaaaaaaat” is somewhat lost among Sollux’s “What the fuck, AA”, and the sprite’s continued rapping. Does _anything_ bother… Him? Her? Them? You’re going with ‘them’.

“But it’s fine” Aradia continues, “We should have some friends arriving soon.” You’re busy wondering if all of their combined luck will be enough to get you going in the right direction, when you hear approaching footsteps.

When you see Rose Lalonde (and Kanaya with her), you thank paradox space that there are two light players on the team.  
*****  
 **Vriska: Be the other Scourge Sister == >**

Waking up on Earth is still strange, even after a few months. While you can’t see how bright the world is, you can feel the gentle warmth of the sun on your face as you lay in bed. It’s… nice, you guess. Honestly, you’re still trying to get used to a life where no one is trying to kill you. As much as you try, it feels like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. You suppose that the three years on the meteor were fairly peaceful, but there was always the threat of Jack behind you and the new session ahead. But even without that, you remember when things were… different.

But enough of that! It smells like someone is cooking downstairs. Probably John’s –or, Jane’s, really- dad. Good _lord_ that man loves his kitchen. You aren’t complaining though, between him and Jane, there’s always a surplus of tasty food in the house. That had been a rather nice change.

You can hear others talking as you draw closer to the dining room. You had all decided to live together after the game, at least for now. Even if you hadn’t come to that agreement on your own, you think Mr. Crocker would have made sure you did. He seems to have declared himself the ‘collective parent’ of the group, and insists that everyone calls him dad. He doesn’t actually make you, but he looks so damn happy whenever someone does. You suppose that this is sort of what a family is. It’s strange, but you think you like it.

Entering the room, you have to smile. Even after months, the Harleybert twins are still acting like adorable excited puppies at being together. Calliope is happily munching on a plate of bacon, while Jane and Roxy tease her about leaving some for Rose and Kanaya when they get back from wherever they went. The Striders, Jake, and Karkat seem to be deep in discussion about some shitty movie that post-scratch Dave made. English swears that it’s a national treasure, of course. Someday, you think. Someday you’ll figure out how to tell them all how much they mean to you. Right now though, you’ll settle for breakfast.

You stare directly at John and smirk at the face he makes as you drown your pancakes in syrup, as you exchange the standard greetings with everyone else. It feels like today is going to be good.

You think nothing of it when you hear the front door open. You only stop what you’re doing when you hear a familiar voice shout “Can _someone_ tell me what the deal with the sprite is?”

The room goes silent, as everyone has a similar reaction to you. In addition to Rose and Kanaya, there’s a sprite2 that you’ve never seen before, Aradia, Sollux, and…

Suddenly, you don’t care that everyone is going to see you being sappy. That doesn’t matter, _nothing_ matters except getting across the room as quickly as possible. You barely register Jade’s elated cry of “Davepeta!” as you shoot forwards and cling to Vriska like the world is ending.

You realize that you’re crying as you hug her, but shove the thought aside. Your moirail is here after months of wondering if she was alive or dead, you should be allowed some leeway. You might feel embarrassed, but the way her voice wavers _just a bit_ as she hugs you back confirms that she too is feeling rather emotional about your reunion. You hear the _snap_ of a camera behind you. Goddammit, Dave.

By the time the two of you finally stop clinging to each other like Jade’s little cuddly toys, everyone else is up and greeting each other. Da- _Mr. Crocker_ \- has come out of the kitchen, and necessary introductions are being made. If anything, he seems thrilled to have four more children. As everyone slowly settles down and more food is brought to the table, you think that you were right about today.  
*****  
Everyone is sprawled outside, since you all felt too restless to hang around indoors. Eventually, someone asks what happened.

Aradia explains how the other Calliope used the energy of the green sun to make a black hole that destroyed Lord English and the furthest ring. Well, the dream bubbles anyway. The infinite void was still there, as were the ghosts. Apparently Aradia had spent some time guiding remaining ghosts around and helping them to use their powers to make something like Dream Bubbles 2.0. 

“It’s weird though” she mused, “I met some ghosts from the timeline before John did… whatever he did.”

“How is that strange?” you ask. “It’s like a scratch, right? The people still living get wiped out, but the dead stay as they are.”

“In theory, yes” Aradia replies, “But from what I can tell, this is stronger. The timeline _should_ have been wiped from existence entirely.”

“Maybe it’s because Roxy and I got out” John interjects. “Like… a part escaped, and that caused a glitch which allowed it to still _sort of_ have happened?”

“It’s possible I suppose, but I doubt it” says Aradia. “Neither of your powers are rooted in memory, you shouldn’t be enough to anchor it to existence. Besides, paradox space _accounted_ for the two of you leaving the timeline.”

_Memory_. It clicks. “Oh” you say quietly, before you can stop yourself. You had _not_ anticipated this particular effect.

Shit, they’re all looking at you now. “Oh?” Rose echoes, raising an eyebrow. Shiiiiiiiit.

Apparently, no one’s curiosity is stopped by your awkward silence as you try to think of what to say. You _probably_ should have told someone before now what happened as you were on your way to meet up with Dave and Dirk. But in your defense, if no one noticed the flashing green neurons or did the mental math, that’s their fault.

Surprisingly, it’s John who seems to understand first. “Oh” he mutters, looking at you. “Oooooooooh. A lot of things you’ve said recently make more sense now.”

“Oh!” Roxy gets it next. “Wait, so back in the session, with all the…” She stops talking and makes odd motions with her hands, probably trying to imitate mind lightning or whatever you call it, “Was that you? Doin’ a mindy thing?”

“Um… yes.” She and John start talking animatedly at once, and you feel a bit overwhelmed with all the attention on you. They still seem to be the only ones who have put the pieces together, but you suppose that makes sense. They are the only ones to know you in both timelines.

Vriska is obviously getting irritated with being out of the loop, and snaps “Some sort of explanation for the rest of us?” John and Roxy quiet down, and you take a deep breath.

“Who knows what a seer of mind can do?”

Vriska snorts. “Is this a trick question? You see what happens from peoples’ decisions, cut and dried. Really cool though!” She tacks on quickly, seeming worried that her statement has offended you. It’s kind of sweet.

“Are our powers ever _really_ that simple, though?” you ask. “Maybe they seem to be, on the surface, but if you dig deeper there is always something more. For example, at first Jade had no idea how she could get all of the planets out of their session, but she eventually found a way and _did_ it. She didn’t know it was possible beforehand, but she tried something and it worked.” You realize that you’re sounding a bit like Rose right now, but keep going regardless.

“Anyway, while we were on our way to the new session, I kept wondering about timelines.” You turn to Vriska. “I know you think of all the ghosts as ‘copies’, but that isn’t true. They’re all _you_ , and they all contribute to who you are. They made different decisions, but they’re still you. And…” you falter, “I was just so frustrated that I couldn’t _remember_! What’s the point of living a hundred different lives if you can’t _learn_ from them? So… I did.”

Oh God, everyone’s staring at you. You realize that this is the most open you’ve been with almost everyone here, and look away. It’s unbearably awkward, but it also feels good to have that off your chest. Eventually, Aradia clears her throat.

“Well I suppose that explains it” she chirps brightly. “If I understand correctly, your mind is pretty much what shaped the ‘retcon’, and to you, both timelines happened. This was an unforeseen variable, and it had unforeseen results. Case closed, everyone!”

They’re still staring at you, and you’re not quite sure what to say now.

From the house, Dad calls out that lunch is ready. Jade jumps up and bets John that he can’t beat her to the door. They race off, and everyone else soon follows. There will inevitably be some more explaining to do later, but you think you can handle it. Vriska helps you up, and you both just stand there for a moment. This isn’t what you expected your life to ever be like, but as you stand there, you’re glad that things turned out the way they are. It hasn’t been easy for you, and you’re sure that Vriska is going to have a hard time adjusting to a peaceful world. Regardless, you have each other, and all the rest of your friends. And someday…

Things will be ok.

**Author's Note:**

> Confession: This was my first fanfiction. Ever. Comments would be much appreciated, and i hope you have a nice day


End file.
